“Well, it sounds like we have some secret sharing to do.” She gives my hand one last squeeze before climbing onto one of the four-wheelers we rode in on. “Want to ride back with Ryker or me?”
“I…” I hesitate. I look between them, and both are looking at me expectantly. “I’ll ride back with Ryker. I’ll see you back at the house.”
I wave her off before turning to look at the man who has been in my dreams for almost a year now but in his wolf form. “I’m sorry I pushed your hand away,” I tell him. This is the first time I’ve really looked at him since the fight, and I see now his face has dried blood on it from various scratches and cuts. A long one starts at his forehead and makes its way down to his nose. I also notice he has a slight limp, and there are puncture wounds covering his calf.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he says. “This is all a lot, and I know there’s going to be a period of adjustment. I hope one day you can trust me and know I would never hurt you.” Moving slow, probably as not to spook me, he raises his hand to cup my face, and I instantly lean into his touch, finding comfort in it. “Now, let's get you home.”
“Do we need to get you to a doctor? You’re limping pretty bad and your face…” I reach up and carefully wipe away some of the blood on his cheek, revealing a cut underneath. “That looks like it needs stitches.”
“No. Most of these wounds are superficial. They’ll be healed before we get home. My leg should be okay in a couple hours. Wolf shifters heal quickly, although some of the more serious wounds leave permanent scars.” He points at a couple raised lines that zigzag across his chest. “Like these.”
“Are those from other wolf shifters too?” I ask him, the term wolf shifter feeling foreign and odd when I say it.
“Yes.”
He doesn’t offer more information, and I don’t ask him for it. Instead, I change the subject. “What about all this stuff?” I motion to the campsite, where everything still stands, including the tent that took us forever to set up.
“We’ll send someone to come gather everything,” he assures me. “Let’s go get some answers.” He climbs onto the four-wheeler, and I take his offered hand and hoist myself up behind him.
“About time, don’t you think?”
Like on the jet ski, I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head on his shoulder. I may be confused about everything else, but I’m not confused about my feelings for Ryker Weylyn.
12
Pruitt
I’m still struggling to understand what I witnessed when we walk through the front door of the Weylyn house. Ryker and I had both kept quiet the whole way back, I assume, because like me, he didn’t know what to say. Part of me wants to just blame this all on a bad hallucination, but the other part of me is too curious to walk away.
Other than almost being used as a chew toy, again, I had a really good day. I enjoyed my time with Ryker a lot. The pull I feel when I’m around him is hard to ignore. And even now, as I watch him speaking in hushed tones with his father, I want to go to him because the distance between us doesn’t feel right.
Margot comes running out of the kitchen, a panicked look on her face. “Pru! Are you okay? Ranger told us what happened. I’m sorry you had to see that!” She pulls me into a tight hug and rocks us back and forth. “We hate those rogue wolves, so I can’t say I’m upset Ryker had to kill him,” she adds before letting me go.
“Yeah, it was pretty…bloody.” I nod, feeling my face drop as I remember the gruesome sight of the torn-up body. “But Ryker was pretty amazing out there.”
“Of course he was, he wasn’t going to let anything hurt you.” Margot grabs my face gently before turning to look at her husband, who’s coming toward us. His face is stern, like it always is, but his eyes soften when he looks at me.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he tells me. “I believe there’s someone here who would like to say hello…” He turns to the side so I can see around him.
Her light brown hair is disheveled and falling out of the low bun she’s wearing it in, and I can also see the dark circles under her eyes from here. “Addison!” I call, breaking into a sprint across the room. I throw my arms around her and hold on for dear life. I knew I wanted her here, but I didn’t realize how much until I feel her arms hug me tight. “I’ve been trying to call you!”
“I got an earlier flight, and in my rush to get home, I left my phone at the hotel. I was pulling into the driveway when Ranger came back.” Addison pulls back and looks me over, her hazel eyes full of worry as she scans for any signs of injury. She touches the spot on my face where the tree branch had cut it the night before. “He told us what happened. I’m glad you’re okay.” I follow her gaze that’s now aimed behind me, and I find Ryker standing there. “Thank you for protecting our girl today. And last night.”
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to her,” Ryker tells her, similar to what Margot had told me a minute ago.
“I know.” She gives him a knowing look before turning back to me. “I guess it’s time for me to come clean.”
We all find a place to sit around the living room, and I feel all eyes in the room on Addison and me. Ryker refuses to sit down, opting to pace behind the couch Addison and I sit on. He had called Sawyer and Avery in to join us, and they’re both leaning against the far wall. Avery has her usual scowl, and Sawyer looks relaxed as he nurses a beer.
A tall, middle-aged redheaded man with a thick auburn beard had also arrived. I’ve heard the others refer to him as Noah, and although no one thought to introduce us, I can tell by the way he stands close to Addison and the way he looks at her, there’s a definite familiarity there.
“Addison, the floor is yours,” Noah tells her, and I don’t miss the affectionate look that passes between them.
Addison takes a big breath before turning slightly in her seat so she can look me directly in the eye. “Fourteen years ago, I had to make the toughest decision I’ve ever made by taking you away from this place and hiding you away from the people that loved you just as much as your parents did.” I freeze in my seat as I listen to her. I’m not even sure my heart is beating anymore or if I’m still breathing.
“Your real name is Grey Thorne, and I faked your death fourteen years ago when—”
“No,” I interrupt. “Wait. You’re telling me I’m… I’m Grey? Ryker’s Grey…?”
Addison simply nods, but I’m too stunned and confused to think clearly, and don’t even have time to take this revelation in before Addison starts up again.
“Your parents were killed by a man who didn’t take rejection well.” I look around the room and see no one else seems to be surprised by this. It’s just me who’s shocked by this news. ”His name is Nicolai Volkov, and your mother Genevieve had been promised to him when she was a young girl. Her parents thought it was a privilege that a strong alpha male like Nicolai would want their daughter, and they had no problem agreeing to hand her off to him when she came of age. But a month before she was supposed to mate with Nicolai, she met Archer Thorne—your father. He was her true mate, and she knew she couldn’t follow through mating with Nicolai, so the newly mated pair ran off together, not telling anyone of their mating or where they were going.”
A sad smile appears on Addison’s face. “No one but me. I was Genevieve’s best friend since grade school, and she trusted me, a human, with her secrets. I remember laughing at her when she told me she was a wolf shifter. The first time she shifted in front of me, I wasn’t laughing anymore. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“My mom was a werewolf too?” I ask, interrupting Addison again.
“Pru, let her finish,” Margot tells me softly. “I promise you’ll get all your answers.”
Addison nods at Margot before continuing. “So when she came to me and told me of her plans to run off with Archer, I supported her and agreed to keep another secret for her. I’d never seen her that happy, and I wasn’t going to ruin that for her. Genevieve and A
rcher came back here to Montana, where they were the alpha pair for several years before they welcomed a little girl named Grey.”
“And that was me?” I ask my voice, barely a whisper.
“Yes, that was you,” Addison confirms. “You were such a happy child. When I used to come to visit, you were always smiling and playing with the other children of the pack. You were very close to a young girl named Remington and her family.”
My eyes shoot to Remington, who’s sitting there with tears in her eyes. “You were my best friend,” Remi tells me, a sad smile appearing on her face. “I should have recognized you right off, but I didn’t, I swear. None of us did. Except for Ryker.” I look behind me at Ryker, who has paused in his pacing, and there’s a brief shared look between us before he goes back to his pacing.
Addison continues. “A week after your seventh birthday, Nicolai found Genevieve and Archer. He had spent nine years looking for her everywhere before hearing of the young alpha pair in Montana. He knew he couldn’t have Genevieve anymore since she was mated to Archer now, so he turned his eyes to you.”
“He wanted me?” I question. “But I was only a child.”
“It didn’t matter. He believed he was owed something, and he didn’t care if you were only a child. He was willing to wait for you to come of age before he mated with you.”
A growl rips through the room, vibrating against the walls, and everyone turns to look at Ryker. “Sorry,” he grumbles under his breath.
From the corner of my eye, I see the scowl on Avery's face deepen, but I don’t have the time or mental energy to ponder what that’s about.
“Instead of bringing the pack into it, Gen and Archer decided to run away in the middle of the night. The last thing they wanted was for someone in their pack to get hurt or killed fighting Nicolai and his pack. So they called me, and we made a plan.”
Addison pauses and looks at Noah again. “But the plan changed when they were ambushed on their way out of town. Their car was run off the road, causing it to roll many times into a deep revive. As far as we know, Archer and Genevieve fought so hard to stay alive, but they were out-numbered, and they died there in the ditch.”
Tears are streaming down many faces now, including mine. I sense Ryker drawing closer to me, so I’m not surprised when the sofa cushion dips, and I feel a strong arm wrap around me. I sink into him and the comfort Ryker brings just by being close to me.
“I was heading in the other direction with you asleep in your booster seat in the back. When they didn’t meet me at the safe house like we had planned, I knew something horrible had happened. And that’s when Noah found the wreckage. It had been set on fire with their bodies inside. I decided then I would never let you be found by those monsters, and I made a choice that would affect you for the rest of your life. I knew as long as you were a part of or remembered wolf shifters, you would be in danger—”
“So, you had her memory wiped,” Sawyer interrupts, snapping his fingers together as if he had solved a puzzle.
Addison nods. “I took her to the local witch who locked away her memories and her wolf. I thought if I locked away the wolf side of her, she would be safer. She would just be human.”
“My wolf?” I straighten in my seat and narrow my eyes at my aunt. “What do you mean, my wolf?”
“Both of your parents were wolf shifters, Pru,” Remi explains. “That means you also have wolf blood running through those veins. Or at least you used too…”
“You mean I’m going to shift into a wolf?” I screech, my voice going up a couple of octaves.
“I don’t know,” Addison admits. “You never showed any signs of your wolf surfacing growing up. But the first night we were here, I believe something changed in you. You started dreaming of a wolf, and you started sleepwalking into the woods. And then I saw all the drawings in your studio…”
“You knew?” I feel my face getting hot from embarrassment.
“Of course, I did! You weren’t as sneaky as you thought you were when you’d come back in the morning. And sometimes, when I would walk past your room at night, I would hear these noises. It sounded like a wild animal was in there, but when I would open the door, it was just you,” Addison tells me. “I think by bringing you back here, your wolf has started to wake up. However, you still haven’t shifted, and I honestly don’t know if you ever will.”
“Addison,” Elias speaks up, “one thing I still don’t understand is how there was a body if she was never in the car.”
“That’s where I come in, Alpha.” Noah steps forward, and I notice now he’s wearing a police uniform. “I lied about seeing Grey’s body, and I adjusted the official paperwork, it looked like she had been in the accident. But I knew she was alive and with Addison in California.”
The growl that erupts from Elias’ chest makes everyone in the room cringe. I feel something powerful rush through the room, causing the hair on my arms to stand. “You helped fake her death?” Elias growls.
“Yes. When I called Addison, she told me what was going on. Archer and Genevieve did all this to protect the pack, and I wasn’t going to go against one of their final wishes by bringing the pack into it.”
Ryker shoots up from his seat, causing me to almost fall over since I was leaning on him. I watch as he storms across the room toward Noah. “We could have protected her! You didn’t give us a chance to! Instead, we mourned. I mourned her for fourteen years!” he roars at him.
“But she stayed alive, and she was safe. That’s what her parents wanted. Nicolai would have come back for her, and we would have had to go to war with him!” Noah defends himself.
“That’s enough!” Addison also jumps up from her seat. “If anyone is to blame for all of this, it’s me. I told him not to tell anyone. I’m the one who told Esme to wipe away her memories and lock away her wolf. This is on me.”
“No, it’s not on you.” I also stand, grabbing hold of both my aunt’s shoulders. “It’s on the monster that killed my parents. You were just trying to keep me safe, and you did.” I look in the direction of the very angry tattooed man. “Ryker enough, leave him alone.”
I watch as he sends Noah one last glare before turning to face me. “I thought you were dead for fourteen years, and you’ve been a couple states away the whole time. I think I deserve to be upset for a little while.”
“We are all upset right now, but that doesn’t mean you need to be yelling at someone who helped save my life,” I state, shaking my head at him.
“Why don’t we all get something to drink and calm down a bit?” Margot offers the group. “I think we all need a minute to digest this information.”
Everyone mumbles and nods in agreement before filing into the large kitchen. Margot passes out beers to the people who want one before pouring herself and Addison a glass of red wine. I decline any alcohol, knowing I need my head clear to understand all of this information.
I watch as Ryker storms out the back patio doors, slamming them behind him with so much force I’m surprised the glass doesn’t break. I flinch when I watch him yell at the sky in frustration. Everyone in the room looks amongst each other, each appearing to try to decide who should go out there to calm him. When no one else moves in his direction, I sigh and take a step toward the door.
“No.” Sawyer places his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll go.”
Sawyer rushes through the door and stops Ryker from punching one of the stone pillars. I can’t quite make out what Sawyer is saying to him now, but whatever it is, Ryker calms down some. He shifts around so I’m looking at his back, but I can see his shoulders heaving with each angry breath.
No one speaks for the longest time. Clearly, everyone is trying to digest all of this, but I can’t stand the silence, so I finally speak up. “If my wolf is waking up, does that explain how I was able to run so fast today, like really fast? Or the things I’ve seen lately?”
After the rogue attack today, I had forgotten about how fast I had been able to run in the wood
s.
“That would make sense,” Ryker says, having come through the door just then. “You’ll also probably find you can smell and hear things you couldn’t before, too,” he adds as he walks across the kitchen toward me, looking less volatile than he did when he stepped out. “What have you seen lately?”
I feel my face grow warm when I look at him. Embarrassed, I drop my gaze and look at the floor. But Ryker’s hand comes under my chin and gently lifts my head, so I’m looking at him.
“There’s a golden aura around you right now, like the wolf in my dreams,” I say as fast as I can while I still have the nerve.
Ryker’s breath catches before he asks, “You can see it?”
“Yes,” I whisper, my own voice cracking. “What is it?”
Ryker turns his head to look at Addison, his eyes pleading for her to help him.
“Remember, when I explained your parents were mates?” Addison asks me. I nod, and she continues. “Every wolf shifter has someone that is his or her perfect match. They are meant for each other, born to complete each other.”
Margot jumps in and says, “To help us recognize our mate, there’s this thing called the mating aura. It’s usually gold, and it appears around the person meant for you, but typically goes away after the mating ceremony.”
My eyes are wide as they shift over to look at Ryker. “If I can see it around you now, does that mean…”
“I’m your mate.”
13
Pruitt
This is way too much for me to comprehend. I’m trying hard to keep it together, but I’m this close to losing it.
If I hadn’t seen Ryker shift into a wolf right before my eyes, I wouldn’t believe a word of Addison’s story.
But now, Ryker is standing in front of me, telling me I’m his mate, and I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry.
“No. This isn’t possible,” I finally say, sensing every eye in the room on me as I try to come to grips with what everyone has said. “I can’t be your mate. I’m not a wolf shifter.”
Wolf Bound (The White Wolf Prophecy Book 1) Page 10